The Los Angeles Clippers have traded Antawn Jamison to the Atlanta Hawks, according to multiple outlets. The Clippers made the trade as a cost-cutting measure, as Atlanta didn’t send back any players or picks. More from ESPN:

The Hawks, who are ravaged by injuries and are on a seven-game losing streak, made the deal using a disabled player exception they got when they lost Al Horford for the season because of a shoulder injury.

The move will save the Clippers more than $2 million in salary and luxury-tax savings and open a roster spot.

Jamison, a 15-year veteran, averaged 3.8 points and 2.5 rebounds for the Clippers this season.

Now that he’s an LA Clipper, former Laker Antawn Jamison can speak freely about the disaster that was the Kobe/Dwight duo. Jamison thinks Howard and Bryant, despite being great players, simply failed to develop the required trust to make their short-lived partnership work. Per ESPN: “I would never count Kobe Bryant out of anything,’ Jamison said Friday. ‘I’ve played with some special players. Gilbert Arenas when he was [in Washington D.C], at the top of his game, LeBron James, Shaquille O’Neal [in Cleveland]. I’ve played with a lot but never played with an individual player who had the type of mindset, the drive that he has. If [Bryant] says he’s going to win a sixth ring, believe me, he’s going to do everything possible to get that ring. Of course, on the outside looking in you could say, well, that might not happen this year or whatever with him coming off the injury and the Lakers trying to get things together. But I mean, that guy, he’s going to do everything possible to get that sixth ring.’ […] What Jamison never figured out though, was why the relationship between Bryant and Howard never developed on the court. ‘It was difficult,’ he said. ‘I really believed before we got started that those two could co-exist. But it just didn’t work out that way. Both guys are unbelievable basketball players, the best we have in the game right now. But for whatever reason we just couldn’t get that relationship as far as them communicating and them trusting each other the way you needed them to trust each other in order for us to win a championship. It just didn’t happen that way.'”

Free agent forward Antawn Jamison, as expected, will stay in Los Angeles. The Clippers snapped up the former Laker on a one-year, veteran’s minimum contract. Per the LA Times: “The veteran free agent agreed to a one-year contract with the Clippers on Monday for the veteran’s minimum of about $1.4 million, bolstering a bench that last season was among the best in the league. ‘Ready to come and help out as much as possible,’ said Jamison, who has career averages of 18.8 points, 7.6 rebounds and 1.7 assists, ‘and hopefully I’m the piece that can take us to the top.’ Jamison, a 15-year veteran who spent last season with the Lakers on another minimum deal, has stated his desire to play for a title contender at this point in his career. He has never reached the conference finals in previous stints with the Golden State Warriors, Dallas Mavericks, Washington Wizards, Cleveland Cavaliers and Lakers. The 6-foot-9 forward had an uneven season with the Lakers, averaging career lows in points (9.4), rebounds (4.8), assists (0.7) and minutes (21.5) while shooting 46.4%. He underwent surgery in late April to repair an injured right wrist. Jamison, 37, also suffered hurt feelings at times last season. He publicly criticized Lakers Coach Mike D’Antoni for a lack of communication over his playing time and skipped exit interviews after the team was swept by the San Antonio Spurs in the first round of the playoffs.”

Free agent Antawn Jamison has various suitors this summer — Memphis and Chicago among them — but it’s the LA Clippers who are said to be the closest to finalizing a deal with the veteran forward. Per ESPN: “Jamison, 37, played for the Los Angeles Lakers last season, averaging 9.4 points and 4.8 rebounds. He has been unabashed in his desire to play for a championship contender in the final years of a 15-year career in which he has averaged 18.8 points and 7.6 rebounds. He will likely surpass 20,000 career points early next season. Jamison played through torn wrist ligaments for much of the second half of last season with the Lakers. He had offseason surgery and expects to be 100 percent at the start of the season.”

After aggravating his sprained right wrist on an awkward fall last night, Antawn Jamison discussed the pain in the joint, but vows to keep playing. Per the LA Daily News: “I feel like it’s about to fall off,’ Jamison said after providing a quiet five points on 2 of 5 shooting in 15 minutes. By spending the Lakers’ day off Thursday receiving rest and treatment, Jamison vowed he will “be ready” when the Lakers play Friday against the Golden State Warriors at Staples Center. Jamison aggravated the wrist after he took a fall during a miffed fast-break attempt as the Lakers trailed 88-86 with 39 seconds remaining. It took a few moments for Jamison to stand up before he started favoring his wrist. Lakers coach Mike D’Antoni took Jamison out with 33 seconds left and didn’t appear at all in the fourth quarter. […] ‘We realize the sense of urgency, whether you’re hurt, whether you’re tired, it’s all mental now,’ Jamison said. ‘You just have to put that behind you. Just come together and represent this organization the way it should be. We realize that’s what we have to do. We want to continue to play to be playing after Wednesday. In order for that to happen, we have to win the last three games.'”

It’s a question that’s always fun to ask: If Michael Jordan magically returned to the NBA today, at age 49 (50 as of next week), how well would he do? In Antawn Jamison’s opinion, not too bad—the Lakers forward believes MJ would be good for 10-to-11 points per game. Via ESPN Los Angeles: “Michael Jordan has been retired from the NBA for a decade, but he warned at his Hall of Fame induction ceremony in 2009 not to count him out from making one last comeback. ‘One day you might look up and see me playing the game at 50,’ Jordan said near the close of his speech, eliciting laughter from the crowd in Springfield, Mass. ‘Oh, don’t laugh. Never say never. Because limits, like fears, are often just an illusion.’ Jordan turns 50 in about a week on Feb. 17. What would happen if he traded in his ownership stake in the Charlotte Bobcats for one more chance to lace up his Air Jordans in the league? Could he do it? ‘I wouldn’t doubt that in the right situation with a LeBron (James) on his team or with a Kobe (Bryant) on this team, he could get you about 10 or 11 points, come in and play 15-20 minutes,’ said Antawn Jamison before the Lakers played the Bobcats on Friday. ‘I wouldn’t doubt that at all, especially if he was in shape and injuries were prevented and things of that nature.’ That’s saying a lot, considering Jamison has Bryant on his team, and only averages 8.1 points per game in 20.5 minutes per game and he’s ‘only’ 36 years old. Jordan averaged 20.0 points in 37.0 minutes per game in his 15th and final season in the league before retiring for good at age 40. ‘He wasn’t joking,’ said Jamison of Jordan’s declaration at the HOF ceremony. ‘You hear stories still to this day, especially last year, him going to the practice facility and playing 1-on-1 with the guys and still they can’t stop him.'”

Antawn Jamison hasn’t been shy about voicing displeasure with his increasingly dimished role, and the frustration he feels about playing under Lakers head coach Mike D’Antoni. The 15-year veteran forward apologized for his latest outburst. Per the OC Register: “I’m kind of disappointed in myself that I kind of expressed my frustration the way I did, but I’m human,’ Jamison said. ‘We move forward and most importantly, we’ve got a game here and whether it’s me being a cheerleader and smiling or run up and down the court, I’m going to do everything that I can to be positive and make sure we continue to win games.’ Jamison, who signed a one-year deal with the Lakers last summer, said he would not seek a trade but rather be patient and wait for another opportunity to play. ‘I don’t want this to be anything bigger than what it is,’ he said. ‘I’ve been doing this for a while and I expressed my frustration and the way I did, especially after a win, it derails what we are trying to do here and I know what these guys are doing.’ D’Antoni said he and Jamison talk constantly and the player didn’t do anything that caused him to be bumped from the rotation. D’Antoni is using Metta World Peace in that role for his defense. ‘Metta would give us a little toughness and defense; he has his role,’ D’Antoni said, explaining his rationale for the moves. ‘…. If you go to a player after a game and he didn’t play, he’s going to be upset and stuff comes out. But there’s nothing there. He’s a great guy and he’s a professional and he understands I’ve picked a different way to go. Nothing he didn’t do, he just needs to keep being ready. As a coach you try to figure out the puzzle and sometimes pieces fit, you like this, you don’t like that. I’m not degrading anybody. He’s great, but right now we are going in this direction and he’ll be ready if we go in another direction or somebody gets hurt or opportunities will come up.'”

Los Angeles Lakers head coach Mike D’Antoni kept backup forward Antawn Jamison glued to the bench on Tuesday night during a 101-100 win over the visiting Charlotte Bobcats. It was the first DNP-CD of Jamison’s long career, and he voiced his frustration to the LA Daily News: “I’ve never had this,’ Jamison said. ‘I’m going home and going to pray. I’m doing something I love to do. You just have to find the positives in life. We won.’ Jamison’s demotion coincided with Lakers coach Mike D’Antoni overseeing a number of moving parts. Pau Gasol returned to the starting lineup after missing the past eight games because of knee tendinitis. Lakers forward Metta World Peace has assumed the backup power forward spot. It’s possible Jodie Meeks will start at shooting guard, while Kobe Bryant slides over to the small forward position. Meanwhile, Jordan Hill also sat on the bench with Jamison. ‘Nothing they did to deserve it,’ D’Antoni said. ‘I’m just trying to figure out the best way to play the team.’ […] ‘I’m here to win a championship,’ Jamison said. ‘If me not being out there improves our chances, then you have to roll with it. Of course I’m not excited about it. I want to compete. I know if I’m out there, I can contribute. But what else can you do?’ Jamison then answered his own question. ‘You just have to stay positive,’ Jamison said. ‘It’s difficult. You never know. Next week, there might be 37 minutes again. You just have to stay positive and have to ride this ship until we find out what are we going to do. Right now, we’re all confused by what’s going on.’ Jamison then suggested the constant rotation changes has only contributed to that confusion. ‘In order for us to be successful, we have to establish an identity,’ Jamison said. ‘Of course injuries play a part. But we have to establish a bench. We have to know what we’re going to do with our starters. We have yet to do that. It’s kind of hard to get into a rhythm when you don’t know what’s going on. Your guess is as good as mine.'”

The knee tendinitis issues that have plagued Pau Gasol so far this season have been well-documented: his jumping and running abilities have been severely hampered, leading to fan anger and public criticism from teammates. Tonight in Houston, and perhaps the next few games, Gasol will be in street attire. Per the Lakers’ website: “Pau Gasol, who’s been hampered by tendinitis in both knees this season, will miss the team’s Tuesday night contest at Houston. The Lakers play on Wednesday night at New Orleans and Friday at Oklahoma City on the current 3-game road trip; Gasol is listed as ‘day-to-day,’ so his status for those games has yet to be determined. […] His knees began to bother him in training camp, when he sat out only one game for rest, and have gotten to the point where the Lakers thought it best to give him some rest. Gasol did not play in the final moments of L.A.’s Sunday loss to Orlando primarily because he was not moving well. […] ‘Pau is struggling a little bit physically,’ said coach Mike D’Antoni after the game. ‘His knees are bothering him and I just didn’t see him moving real good. Again, a lot of our offense is spreading the floor and I like Antawn (Jamison) where he is. But I’m not going to go away from Pau. He’ll get better physically, and as soon as he gets over this and that, he’ll be better.’ […] Antawn Jamison is expected to start in Gasol’s place, with Jordan Hill likely coming off the bench. Earl Clark could also see some reserve minutes, depending on the flow of the game. Meanwhile, Chris Duhon will replace Darius Morris in the starting line up at the point guard slot, potentially taking away some of the ballhandling demands that have been put on Kobe Bryant in the absence of Steve Nash and Steve Blake.”

The Laker bench was the worst, least productive pine in the entire NBA last season. They aren’t faringmuch better this time around. Per the L.A. Times: “Antawn Jamison was brought in to score but has scrimped. Jodie Meeks was brought in to shoot but has sat. Little has gone as planned for the Lakers or their top two new reserves, who have struggled to make much of an impact in the season’s early going. Jamison and Meeks were supposed to bolster a bench that ranked last in the NBA last season in points scored. Perhaps the best reflection of their play is that the Lakers now rank No. 29 in the league in bench scoring with 18.8 points per game, ahead of only Portland. Hey, it’s progress, though not exactly the kind the Lakers had envisioned. Their reserves have been outscored, 148-75, by their counterparts. […] Jamison is a 14-year veteran with career averages of 19.5 points and 7.8 rebounds per game. As a Laker, he’s been relatively quiet as a reserve, scoring just 4.3 points per game in just 16.8 minutes. ‘I’ve never been the one who tried to rush into anything,” said Jamison. “I just kind of go with the flow of things and eventually things will start to click. You know, I’ve been hearing it, ‘You gotta be aggressive. You gotta be aggressive,’ but I’m just going to stay within the flow of the offense.’ So Coach Mike Brown is urging him to be more aggressive? ‘It’s my kids, my mom,’ corrected Jamison. ‘Nah, the coaches, they know what they want me to do. Coach has tried to get me on the box a little bit more in the past game or two. It’s going to take time.'”

“If I win a championship, I’ll be put in a different category,” he said. “I know where I am with the totals, the averages, the scoring list or whatever. But I didn’t win in high school. I didn’t win in college. To have such a roller coaster career in the pros and to be a professional night-in and night-out and to know I put in the work and did all those things I needed to do to be successful, man … “

And here, the composed, intelligent veneer with which Jamison conducts his media responsibilities broke down for a second. He smiled broadly, looked up at the rafters, and said, “Man, I deserve it. I want one bad. I envision it all. I envision holding that trophy up, I envision going to that parade, I envision getting that ring. It’s the only thing that keeps me motivated, having my name associated with a champion. I just deserve it.”

To say that anyone “deserves” to win the ultimate prize is a stretch, but you’d have a difficult time arguing that Antawn Jamison hasn’t (at the very least) earned the opportunity to compete for it.

Kobe Bryant says that his body hasn’t felt this good since 2006 (the season he erupted for a career-high 35.4 points a game), and Bean showed that his hops are still there during practice yesterday, by soaring over a helpless Antawn Jamison for a monster finish.

We already knew that Antawn Jamison was LA-bound, and now it’s being reported that it’s on a one-year deal with the Lakers. Per ESPN: “Veteran forward Antawn Jamison will sign a one-year deal for the veteran’s minimum with the Los Angeles Lakers, according to a league source. Jamison, 36, averaged 17.2 points and 6.3 rebounds last year for Cleveland in his 14th season in the league, but shot a career-low 40.3 percent from the field.”

According to the Charlotte Observer, free agent forward Antawn Jamison has made his choice, and that choice is the Los Angeles Lakers: “Jamison, who starred at Providence High and North Carolina, gave serious consideration to finishing his NBA career as a Bobcat. But late Monday he decided to sign with the Lakers for a chance to pursue a championship, an informed source said. Jamison is on vacation in Europe. He’s expected to sign with the Lakers once he returns to the United States later this week. A 14-season NBA veteran, Jamison would have been big for the Bobcats as both a power forward and a mentor to a young team. Bobcats executives Rod Higgins and Rich Cho recruited him over dinner two weeks ago, as Jamison still lives in Charlotte and is raising four children here. Jamison said he was torn between the chance to spend winters with his family versus signing with a contender. The Lakers and Brooklyn Nets both made him contract offers. Jamison averaged 17.2 points and 6.3 rebounds with the Cleveland Cavaliers last season. He should provide strong bench scoring for a Lakers team that will feature Kobe Bryant, Pau Gasol, Andrew Bynum and newly signed Steve Nash.”

Soon-to-be free agent Antawn Jamison (who turns 36 this summer) will be looking for a new NBA home next season. Per the Akron Beacon Journal: “Asked if he has made up his mind about not returning next season, he said ‘I think we both have. I understand the importance of Tristan (Thompson) and these younger guys getting the opportunity to play,’ he continued. ‘I’ve taught them so much and it’s been fun teaching them, but it’s time for me to move on as well. I don’t know what the future holds, I don’t know what opportunity might present itself, but I definitely have a great feeling this is probably my last home game and tomorrow will be my last game as a Cav.’ Jamison came here expecting to contend for a championship, then the rules of the game changed drastically and he was powerless to stop it. With one Decision, the Cavaliers went from contenders to rebuilders at the bottom of the NBA’s scrap heap. But Jamison kept quiet this year, kept his head down, kept working and kept leading. And the Cavaliers will be better off for it. The Cavaliers paid him a lot of money — more than $30 million the last 2 1/2 years — but he has earned the right to choose his next adventure. Whether that means signing with a contender in an effort to win a championship or go home to Charlotte and hold the same role as veteran mentor for the struggling Bobcats that he did with the Cavaliers, Jamison served his time here. He gave the Cavs everything he had and he did it in a professional manner.”

numberFire is a sports analytics platform that uses algorithmic modeling to better understand sports—and they’ve developed the numberFire Efficiency Rating Derivative (NERD) to better evaluate every player in the NBA using offensive and defensive efficiency numbers. The nerdier, the better, according to these guys. A player’s NERD rating represents how many games above or below .500 an average team would be if they added him to its roster (based on an 82-game season). For example, LeBron James posted an 18.3 rating in the 2010-11 season, which means that if he played on a team with four league-average players, you would expect that team to finish 18 games over .500 (50-32). An average player has a NERD rating of 0, and to qualify, a player must play at least five minutes per game, based on the team’s total games. Visit numberFire to check out a detailed explanation of the NERD stat for player efficiency and see the full list of NERD rankings.

numberFire says:

JR Smith is the biggest mover this week, increasing his NERD by 2.5 points. Smith is averaging 20 points, 5 rebounds, 4 assists and 2 steals over his last four games. In that time, he’s shot 29-62, but more impressively, he is 18 for his last 36 from long range. The Knicks will need that kind of bench production if they have any hope of going deep in the Eastern Conference Playoffs.

Carmelo Anthony also had a dominant week and is just behind his teammate Smith for the most improvement. While Melo is still shooting a career worst 43% from the field on the year, he has the highest assist rate of his career at 21%. It doesn’t hurt that he’s averaging close to 37 points per game over his last three. Melo has also shot over 50% in nine of his last 12 games.

Antawn Jamison had his least efficient week of the season, mostly thanks to an 0-10 performance in Detroit on Tuesday. He made just 3 free throws and it was the fourth time all year Jamison has scored three points or less in a game.

The NERD power rankings are powered by numberFire, a sports analytics platform that uses algorithmic modeling to better understand sports. Follow Nik Bonaddio at @numberfire, and Keith Goldner at @drivebyfootball. Check out numberFire on Facebook.

As if things weren’t bad enough, Antawn Jamison poured a little more salt in our lockout induced wounds this morning. The 12-year veteran entered the League during the lockout shortened ’98-99 season and he notes that this time around the League’s players are much more cohesive and well informed, but that unity won’t necessarily translate into a labor solution.

“Nearing the end of his career and due one of the largest salaries in the league next season – about $15 million – Jamison would have plenty to lose if next season is wiped out. But Jamison insists there’s unity from the rookie draft picks to the league’s stars.

‘You’ve got the LeBron Jameses and the Dwyane Wades and all those guys who are really taking a stand and being a face of this movement,’ Jamison said. ‘I think back then we really didn’t have the superstars that were together as the superstars are now. I think it’s making a difference.’

Jamison said the NBA Players Association is already setting up gyms around the country where players will be able to work out and get instruction and treatment. He said players are constantly getting updates from the union and there was a strong push that started ‘three or four years ago’ to get players to save money and prepare for the worst.

[…]

Jamison feels this labor dispute will be different, and insists players have the will to sit out an entire season instead of giving in to the owners’ demands of salary rollbacks and a hard salary cap.

‘I understand when they say they’re losing money and so forth. I get that,’ Jamison said. ‘We said we’d give a certain amount of that money back. But some owners have to take the onus on themselves because they put themselves in a situation where they’re overpaying for certain guys.

‘We both have to look in the mirror and say, `We both have to take responsibility for this.’”

There appears to be no foreseeable solution on the horizon, and while no one wants the lockout to completely wipe out next season in its entirety, both the players and the owners appear to be willing to take that step in order to meet their demands.

]]>http://www.slamonline.com/news-rumors/top-news/jamison-players-prepared-for-season-long-lockout/feed/25SLAMonlineCavs to Work Out Together in Case of Lockout This Summerhttp://www.slamonline.com/nba/cavs-to-work-out-together-in-case-of-lockout-this-summer/
http://www.slamonline.com/nba/cavs-to-work-out-together-in-case-of-lockout-this-summer/#commentsMon, 06 Jun 2011 13:25:08 +0000http://www.slamonline.com/online/?p=136974

It’s an idea brought forward by Antawn Jamison and Baron Davis, in an effort to bring the team closer together, and in the hopes of generating more wins next year. From the Akron Beacon Journal: “He has been part of the Cavaliers’ organization for less than four months, but Baron Davis is already emerging as a vocal leader of the franchise. Antawn Jamison was the lone voice in the locker room for most of last season, but Davis proved again last week that Jamison finally has some company. Davis and Jamison were the veterans who came up with the idea of bringing the players together to work out during an NBA lockout this summer. Davis reiterated last week he is expecting everyone to make a legitimate effort to get there. ‘It’ll show a commitment, who’s committed to this team for next year,’ he said. The Cavs are following the lead of NFL teams, including the Browns, who have held similar workouts led by the quarterbacks during the football lockout. Jamison and Davis were the first Cavs to talk about working out as a team this summer, either near Jamison’s home in North Carolina or with Davis out west. The workouts initially seemed geared toward the younger players on the roster, but Davis opened the invitation to the entire team last week. ‘It’s a total secret,’ Davis joked. ‘We’re not telling you anything about it. We won’t tell you after we do it, either.’ Davis says he’s returning to Cleveland every couple of weeks to work out at the facility. He attended an Indians game last week and said his knee and back are both feeling great. He said all the right things about the possibility of the Cavs drafting Duke point guard Kyrie Irving and genuinely appears to enjoy the role the team has given him.”

Jamison’s fractured left pinky finger means he won’t have to suit up for the Cavs again anytime soon. From the Akron Beacon Journal: “Cavs leading scorer Antawn Jamison could miss the rest of the season following surgery Tuesday to repair a fractured pinky finger on his left hand. Jamison is expected to miss five to seven weeks after Tuesday’s procedure, which will be performed by hand specialist Dr. Thomas Graham, with Cavs team physician Dr. Richard Parker assisting. There are seven weeks left in the season. Jamison, averaging 18 points per game, was fouled late in the third quarter of Sunday’s loss to the Philadelphia 76ers by Jrue Holiday and walked immediately to the locker room.”

Admit it – you missed the weekend Post Up, didn’t you? Before we get rolling with the night’s 12-pack of games, I want to assure everyone that despite recent rumours – I have not been traded. The details are fuzzy, but the men in suits claim that my contract is too large to move. It’s not that it’s financially large, I just buried it in a crate with concrete, it’s very hard to move. Let the games begin.

Starting life without Gerald Wallace, the Bobcats beat the Kings led by Stephen Jackson’s 30 points. Dressing only 8 players, Charlotte pulled away late as Gerald Henderson scored 10 of his 21 points in the 4th quarter. Samuel Dalembert had 18 points and 10 rebounds but the Kings turned it over 18 times in the game, including sloppy possessions at critical moments. As bad as Krause was back in his day, is Jordan trying to one-up him in the “worst GM” category? Both of you guys need to go through Kerr anyway.

Just days fresh from his trade to the land of newer Yorks, the Melodrama rolled through Cleveland and came to an abrupt stop as the Knicks lost to the Cavs. Amar’e and Melo have found their easy life: the stats are delicious (31 and 11, 27 and 8, respectively), the defense has gone fishing and doesn’t plan to return, and both have gotten their licenses to shoot renewed as their roster thins down. What could be better, except for wins? Antawn Jamison led the Cavs with 28 points and 13 rebounds and J.J. Hickson had 24 points to go along with 15 big rebounds as the Cavs hustled early for loose balls and set up a textbook finish in Cleveland. Just how bad a defensive player is Anthony? Jamison was going off on him, especially down the stretch, side-winding his way to the bucket and drawing back-to-back foul calls as Jamison was battling for position. Despite missing 13 free throws, the Cavs led by 4 with under 2 and a half to play before Billups (26 points, 8 assists) posted up and spun around Sessions (22 points) for an easy bucket, cutting the lead to 2. The lay-up drill was on, as Sessions and Billups traded buckets before JJ Hickson put in a critical two points with under a minute to play. Amar’e cut the lead to 2 but walking 90’s barber shop throwback Daniel Gibson came up big with a clutch 3-pointer with 30 seconds to play, putting the Cavs up 5. A five-point lead would be comfortable for teams who play defense, but these two teams have as much chance of that as the Pistons showing up to a shoot around. Melo converted an and-1 on Hickson, but missed the free throw before fouling out of the game. Did the New York give up too much for Carmelo? Maybe, but the only contracts the Knicks have on the books for 2012/13 are Amare ($20M), Carmelo ($22M), and Balkman ($1.7 M). As fun it is to make fun of the Baron-to-Cleveland trade, Baron’s contract in 18 months will be a hugely valuable trade asset for the Cavs.

For those of you wondering, Al Jefferson does not need a point guard to set him up. Big Al put up 30 points and 9 rebounds as the Jazz snapped a five-game losing streak and beat the Pacers despite Danny Granger‘s 17 points. Utah’s southern-fried big men went to work, as Paul Millsap went for 23 points and a season-high 18 boards while the Jazz never trailed after the first quarter and maintained momentum throughout the game.

Fresh off their morning players’ revolt, the Pistons folded to the Sixers as Philadelphia reached .500 for the first time this season. Elton Brand had 20 points and 17 rebounds to surge the Sixers to a 29-29 record, including winning 12 of their last 16 games. Compared to their 3-13 record, this is impressive to the least and inspiring at most. Andre Iguodala added 21 points, 11 assists, and 7 rebounds as he sealed the game with a pair of explosive fast-break throw-downs (check out the windmill jam) while Detroit suited 6 players (any guesses as to which ones sat out?). Will Bynum turned the opportunity into a “pad-your-stats” day, contributing 29 points, 6 assists, and 5 rebounds while the rest of the patchwork starters each scored in double figures. Where do the Pistons go from here? I say rebuild. Not just the team, but the entire city. For whatever rises will give the Detroit fans more pride than this recent mess ever has.

Here’s a question for NBA fans attending games: what do you do when an enemy and a hero come into your arena? What if both are on the same team? Vince Carter scored 17 points while Nash added 11 assists as the Suns beat the Raptors. Andrea Bargnani scored 26 points but his Raptors trailed by as many as 24 points and since they were playing the Suns, they basically held themselves to 92 points. In the game’s second possession, Nash hit Carter for a half-court alley-oop while the crescendo of boos quieted down. At one point during the 3rd quarter as Vince was checking into the game, a fan called out: “Retire, Vince!” in his direction, prompting Carter to respond with a “Not yet”. Say whatever you want about the artist formerly known as Vinsanity, but Carter always gets the upper hand in Toronto.

This game demonstrates exactly why OKC made a big-man trade. Dwight Howard had 20 and 7 by halftime, finishing with 40 points and 15 rebounds as his Magic took down the Thunder. After losing to the Kings at home, the Magic came out with 3’s blazing as four players scored in double figures in the win. Orlando had control for most of the game, as the Thunder couldn’t get over the double-digit deficit barrier despite Kevin Durant’s (23 points) best efforts. The Magic shot 50% from the field, holding the Thunder to 33% shooting and out-rebounding them 53-46. Get healthy soon, Perk. Your services will be needed.

Chris Paul had 17 points and 8 assists to help his Hornets bounce back with a win against the Wolves. Team defense was the key, as the scrappy Hornets battled for loose balls and played tough team-defense that led to 21 Minnesota turnovers. Without David West, Trevor Ariza chipped in the scoring department, hitting 4 three-pointers to finish with 18 points. Okafor made his return for New Orleans with 10 points, 7 boards, and 3 blocks including a stuff that sent Beasley’s mind to near-sanity. Wes Johnson led the Wolves with 22 points. United on the defensive front and led by their floor general, the Hornets look to maintain or improve upon their 5th seed standings in the West.

Wondering why the Nets kept it close on the scoreboard against the Spurs? Deron Williams made his New Jersey debut with 14 points and 12 assists but it wasn’t enough against a complete Spurs team, led by Manu Ginobili’s 26 points. Mikhail Prokhorov even interrupted a trip, presumably to take a shot of vodka while flying over every state, as he visited San Antonio to see his new acquisition in action. Williams looked comfortable running the show, and kept his sense of humour while rallying his new troops, ending a huddle with a “Go Jazz!” It remains to be seen whether Prokhorov has enough resources to make Deron an offer he cannot refuse in the Jersey shore.

The Hawks celebrated their Bibby-less roster with a blowout over the Warriors, led by Josh Smith’s 26 points. For the Warriors, this is what happens when your dynamic backcourt shoots for a combined 9-of-28: David Lee leads the team in scoring (20 points and 10 rebounds), while the rest of the team dials in long jumpers like their long-distance plan is about to expire. Golden State face a 7-game road-trip ahead.

Dwyane Wade was feeling the Heat as he scored 41 points in a win over the Wizards. Nick Young held his own against Wade, scoring 38 of his own while John Wall side-stepped the rookie wall with 24 points and 12 assists. After twisting his ankle, Young wasn’t as effective on the offensive end and yet a hobbled shooting guard was still the focus of the Wizards’ plan of attack. A Miami 20-8 run sealed the game as the Wizards never got closer than 5 points. In the midst of the Miami trade rumours, it may have gotten lost that Eddy Curry wanted to sign the veteran’s minimum with the Heat. Riley decided against it, since Curry also wanted the veteran’s maximum of the team buffet.

With a small line-up that might as well run garden gnomes at the guards, the Clippers fell to the bigger and more experienced Lakers yet again. Blake Griffin was double-teamed all night (22 points and 10 rebounds), while Randy Foye got it going early from distance, finishing with 24 points but Gasol (22 points) kept the Lakers close early. We all agree that Pau is soft, but he has shown he can put his head down and get to the rim in crunch time. Either he’s embraced this Black Swan persona or he’s mad about his beard volumizer not performing as advertised. Kobe injured a nerve in his shooting arm, but the display of pain was not up to par as last season’s LeElbow soap opera. Coming out after halftime, Bryant basically played with one hand and still scored 18 points in the 3rd quarter, finishing with 24 points. This man is going places. Attention free agents: don’t sleep on the Clippers next summer, they have just $25M in payroll for 2012 and their power forward makes children weep with joy. If you’re wondering why Mo Williams and Jamario Moon didn’t play for the Clips (and you shouldn’t), they can’t suit up until Baron Davis passes a physical in Cleveland. In other words, Williams and Moon may never play again.

The closest game of the night came from two teams that are on the bottom-end of the playoff standings in the West, as the Blazers edged out the Nuggets in overtime. LaMarcus Aldridge led the Blazers with 24 points and 14 rebounds and Brandon Roy played his second game back from surgery on both knees and hit a game-tying 3-pointer to send it into overtime. Have to hand it to Aldridge – he’s averaging 26 and 10 since Dec.5th, finally showing that he can be the focal point of an offense. Portland was short-handed as Crash has not yet joined the team so Roy played over his recommended 15 minutes limit and scored 18 points in the process. Danilo Gallinari led Denver with 30 points while Arron Afflalo (19 points) re-gained his clutch jumper with a triple that tied the game at 104, and another jumper to put the Nuggets up 2 with a minute to play. After Wes Matthews (16 points) split a pair of free throws, Aldridge redeemed himself after misses against the Lakers as he hit the game-winning freebies to put Portland up a point with 23 seconds to play. The Nuggets had a few chances to win it but Gallinari and Afflalo missed 3-pointers down the stretch. Can the Nuggets still make the playoffs? They’re deep enough at nearly every position and Nene is playing for a contract. Shock the world, Denver!

The Nets took their limited talents to Charlotte and earned a rare road win over the Bobcats. Brook Lopez broke out of his rebounding shell with 31 points to go with 11 boards which is a big deal since Brook hadn’t had a double digit rebounding game since December. The Bobcats were sluggish to say the least, easily playing their worst game since the hiring of coach Silas as the missed 12 free throws, shot just 43% from the floor, and didn’t force enough turnovers to keep themselves in the game. Stephen Jackson finished with 21 points including a three-pointer to cut New Jersey’s lead to 4, but the Nets closed the game out on a 6-0 run.

There are times when the sporting community unite to support a greater cause – worthy charity work, disaster relief, and the Cavaliers’ quest for a win before season’s end. As LaMarcus Aldridge finished doing work against the Raptors (see below), he asked reporters on the score of the Cavs game which has gone into overtime, answering with a “Go Cavs!” response when hearing the good news. Much like the love that the Saints received in last year’s Super Bowl (though Cleveland didn’t go through a disaster, but some say July 1, 2010 qualifies as one), it seemed as most of the basketball fraternity was rooting for the underdog and the Cavaliers finally delivered. From the start of the night, Byron Scott cut out the excess that is the Cavs’ bench, basically sticking to an 8-man rotation as the team began to gel against a headstrong Clippers team. Heading into the 4th quarter in a close game, it was a matter of which team wanted it most. Blake Griffin had 32 points and 13 rebounds but was mostly ineffective down the stretch, Baron Davis scored 26 points and added some questionable shots in critical moments, and Randy Foye scored 23. For the Cavs, Antawn Jamison tied his season-high with 25 points, Mo Williams (17 points, 14 assists) hit a jumper to send it to overtime, but the player of the game was J.J. Hickson who netted 27 points and 14 rebounds. The play of the game featured Blakezilla battling Hickson down low, elevating and getting thoroughly rejected by J.J., leading to a fast-break 3-pointer by Mo Williams the other way for a 5-point turnaround in the 4th quarter. In the final seconds of regulation, Baron Davis drove for a game-winning lay-up but was rejected by Hickson. It was probably a goaltend, but would the referees have the heart to extend a 26-game losing streak because of that call? Not a chance. In overtime, the Clippers cut the Cavs’ 6-point lead to just 1 after Foye’s three-pointer with 44 seconds left but Jamison responded with a three of his own from the left wing to put the Cavs up for good. Just 32 straight wins and Cleveland are right back in the playoff picture.

With the Pacers trailing against the Wolves, there was one man to go to on this night: Dahntay Jones. Jones scored all 19 of his points in the 4th quarter as Indiana rallied past a resilient Wolves squad. Trailing by 7 going into the final quarter, the Pacers ran off a quick 10-3 run sparked by their bench and outscored Minnesota 33-15. Kevin Love had 22 points and 15 rebounds but in the end the hot shooting of Jones and the bench production was too much to overcome. While Darren Collison is not quite ready to run the team (8 points, 6 assists), he and the rest of the Indiana core give Pacers fans hope for the future. If they get some playoff experience (i.e. get swept by the Heat), this team with a few more pieces has a bright future.

Paying an ode to college scores, the Sixers gave the Spurs their 2nd loss on their annual rodeo trip. Along with playing their best defensive game of the season, Jrue Holiday was key in the game with 27 points while Elton Brand tied his season-high with 17 rebounds. While the Philadelphia haven’t won when scoring less than 80 points since 2003, they forced the Spurs into a 33% shooting night (3 for 17 from deep) and made each shot difficult. Tim Duncan found a Wi-Fi connection, then registered 16 points and 13 rebounds but his team did not impress Popovich. “I think it set offensive basketball back a decade or so” Pop said postgame. With San Antonio no longer resting their hard hats on solid team defense and not looking to outscore opponents consistently, is their record inflated? The playoffs don’t lie.

Carrying on the proud tradition of playing better after snubbed an All-Star spot, LaMarcus Aldridge lead the Blazers with 37 points and 10 rebounds in a win over the Raptors. Fourteen of L.A.’s points came in the 4th quarter while Rudy Fernandez added 23 off the bench. Andrea Bargnani scored 29 points while Jerryd Bayless took a page from Dahntay Jones’ book by scoring all 18 of his points in the 4th quarter. Toronto’s 2-point deficit quickly turned into a 7-point lead as Bayless connected on three triples but after Andre Miller (13 points, 8 assists) went into “Kloser” mode with an and-1 play, the Blazers closed out a tight game with free throws down the stretch. I recognize Duncan’s lifetime achievement All-Star berth but he should sit this one out in favour of Aldridge, I don’t think Popovich would mind if TD rested at home for a few more days instead anyway.

With an easy win over the Pistons, the Heat take over the number 1 seed in the East. Six Miami players scored in double figures, as Dwyane Wade lead the way with 24 points, 8 rebounds, and 7 assists while LeBron finished with 16 points and 10 assists. Austin Daye continued his increasingly consistent play with 18 points off the bench but Detroit simply didn’t have enough firepower to challenge a well-balanced Heat squad. The only moment of note came in the 1st quarter as LeBron was heckled, and responded: “I don’t care what you say, don’t be disrespectful”.

Black Swan, meet helpless duckling. The Lakers’ approach to their nationally-televised opponent in the Knicks was much like Vin Diesel’s approach to acting: hit “cruise control”, and see what happens in the end. Kobe slithered his way to 33 points and 10 rebounds in three quarters, resting in the 4th as Pau Gasol added 20 points and 6 rebounds. After a slow start of two turnovers and lazy passes, the Lakers got back on track as Kobe scored 19 first-quarter points and deflated the Knicks early. Derek Fisher entered the Matrix with his stats (0, 1, 0, and 3) and even Artest’s sabotage attempts were not enough to derail a focused Lakers squad. Amar’e Stoudemire led New York with 24 points and 10 rebounds, who dropped to .500 for the first time since late November. Great moments in Mark Jackson commentating history: “Kobe’s a guy…you have to guard.” Well said, Mark. Am In in the minority who wouldn’t be surprised if Artest retires in the offseason? Besides looking like Zoidberg on his attempt at lateral movement, if he couldn’t stay in front of slow-motion Pierce on Thursday, what chance does he have against faster players? Last but not least, LetShannonDunkAgain.com.

The Grizzlies withstood a torrent of shots from Corey Maggette as they beat the Bucks and continue to hunt for the last playoff spot in the West. Mike Conley scored 23 points including a clutch 3-point with 1:12 to play while Sam Young had 19 points and 8 rebounds for Memphis. Maggette put the Bucks up by as many as 11 points as he scored 20 of his 22 points in the 3rd quarter as he shot 6-of-9, including 4-of-6 from distance. After Conley’s 3-pointer, the Grizzlies hit 7 of 8 free throws in the final 20 seconds of the game causing the Bucks to fall 6 of their last 7 games. Did anyone notice that White Chocolate is now on the Grizzlies? Me neither.

Is it time to believe in New Orleans? The Hornets snapped a 4-game losing streak as they beat the nose-diving Magic. Shaking off the bench chains, Willie Green had 24 points as a starter while David West added 17 points and 17 rebounds. For the Magic, Dwight got his numbers (20 and 17), Turkoglu showed a pulse (16 points), but apparently tried to lose the game on purpose as he threw an inbounds pass away with 23 seconds to play. Yes, Chris Paul did take fewer shots in the game than the “stars” of Jersey Shore would in an hour, finishing with 15 points (on 11 attempts) and 7 assists. Why is he taking fewer shots? While my default answer is “because he can dominate without being a volume scorer”, I’m going to write him off as recovering from knee surgery this season. When fully healthy, CP3 will re-visit his days of almost beating the Spurs and when that happens, the discussion of who’s the 2nd best point guard will be fierce.

Without Jerry Sloan on the sideline for their first game in more than 22 years, the Jazz lost their focus and lost their first Sloan-less game to the Suns. Steve Nash carried his team to .500 for the first time since Dec.7th (great success!) with 18 points and 10 assists. Deron Williams played well early on his way to 19 points, 14 assists, and 8 rebounds, with C.J. Miles adding another 19 for Utah. Down 12 at half-time, the Suns came back to a 14-5 run that gave them a 3-point lead and never let up, improving their defense as the Jazz to shoot 32% after half-time and Phoenix forced them into 14 turnovers in the game. Karl Malone sat courtside (I hear he was kind of a big deal in Utah), and stated his opinion on Sloan’s departure: “Coach don’t quit nothing…” I must admit the timing is very odd, obviously referring to Egyptian dictator Hosni Mubarak stepping down yesterday morning just a day after Sloan’s resignation. I’m not advocating for Mubarak to coach the Jazz, but you must admit that calling his defensive sets “hard-nosed” would be a gross understatement.

The Cavs’ wholly depressing losing streak reached an all-time high (low?) last night, as Cleveland dropped their 25th consecutive game. In pro sports history, only the ’76-’77 Tampa Bay Bucs have lost more games in a row (26.) The Akron Beacon Journal reports: “When it was over, when the Cavaliers officially claimed the longest losing streak in NBA history, Antawn Jamison was left holding the ball as coach Byron Scott shook his head in disbelief. Of all the losses – 25 in a row and counting – of all the ways they’ve lost games the last two months, this just might be the strangest. The Cavaliers fell to the Dallas Mavericks on Monday 99-96 when Anthony Parker missed a 3-pointer in the final seconds, Jamario Moon lost track of the clock and Jamison was left standing at the 3-point line holding the ball as time expired. ‘I didn’t even look up at the clock,’ Moon said. ‘I know Antawn was wide open without paying attention to the clock. I was like ‘Oh my God.’ I didn’t even pay attention to it. I’m a big boy, though. I take the blame for it.’ The Cavs have lost 35 of their last 36 games. Their 25 straight losses is the second-longest losing streak in the history of professional sports. It breaks their own club record of 24 straight losses, which was the old NBA record (set over two seasons). That means the Cavs now have the two longest losing streaks in the history of the NBA.”

Jamison has recently made it clear that he can’t take much more of the losing and humiliation in Cleveland, and now the word “retirement” is floating around in his head. FanHouse reports: “The Cleveland forward already has started to think about retirement. He said before Saturday night’s 127-99 loss to Denver at the Pepsi Center that next season, the last on his contract, could be the final one of his NBA career. ‘Definitely,’ Jamison, 34, said. ‘I’ve done a lot, man. This is my 13th year and next year will be my 14th year. A lot of people don’t get the opportunity to say that they’ve played for that many years. And to know that I’ve left everything I throw on the court has been a blessing for me.’ Jamison, making $13.36 million this season and $15.08 million next season, said there’s a chance he could look to sign on for one more year after that. But then that definitely would be it. ‘I know the window of opportunity is closing in … for my career,’ said Jamison, averaging 16.5 points this season for the woeful Cavaliers. ‘Physically, I can play the game for another five or six years. Mentally, I got another one or two years in me. I can live with that. I’ve enjoyed my career and done a lot of things. The only thing I got to do is to win a championship. But I got one more year left on my contract. If nothing happens by then, I can be happy with it being a career unless an opportunity comes up to play for one year after that. But I got four kids (ranging in age from 1 to 10 with wife Ione). I’ve been away from home a long time. There’s nothing wrong with being daddy day care and just enjoy life with them. I can actually see myself doing that (after next season). … I’ll go to PTA meetings.'”

To say that J.J. Hickson and his new coach, Byron Scott, have not seen eye-to-eye this season would be a vast understatement. Hickson’s play has been up and down, leading to inconsistent minutes.

Scott has relegated J.J. to the bench, and it’s not sitting well with the young forward (pun intended.) He says that everyone in the organization knows of his unhappiness, but that he’ll deal with it in a professional way.

The Plain Dealer reports:

J.J. Hickson entered his third NBA season as one of the Cavs’ promising young talents. The 6-9 forward already has poured in team-high 31 points in a game this season and is tied for second in rebounds. But inconsistent play has cost Hickson his starting job, and coming in off the bench isn’t sitting well. “I’m not adjusting very good,” he said. “I don’t think it’s any secret. Coach [Byron Scott] knows I’m not happy. My teammates know I’m not happy. But as a professional basketball player, you deal with it as a pro.”

Hickson wasn’t particularly pleased with how the demotion was handled. “The night I didn’t start I didn’t know I wasn’t going to start until 30 seconds before we went out to go warm up,” he said. And he wasn’t thrilled with how Scott explained what he has to do to change the situation. “[Scott] said, ‘Play with energy,’ which I think I do, and that was about it,” he said.

Jamison’s game has fallen off a cliff — he’s putting up the worst minutes since his rookie season — and according to the local press, the Cleveland Cavaliers would like for someone to take him and his contract off their hands. Preferably, sooner rather than later. From the News-Herald: “Jamison, 34, said he’s made no trade demands. Sources around the league think it’s only a matter of time before the Cavs start shopping his services. ‘I just want to play,’ he said. ‘I know I have a lot left in the tank. I’m going to say if this situation comes up, no matter where I play, I’m going to compete. You also want to get the opportunity of show the team what you’re capable of doing. I’m not going to say I’m going to play well to increase my value in a trade. That’s never been my mind frame. I’ll play hard and let the chips fall where they may.’ Jamison came to the Cavs (7-12) from the Washington Wizards at last season’s trade deadline. Everyone thought he was the final piece to the championship puzzle. Of course, the Boston Celtics didn’t get the memo and upset the Cavs in the Eastern Conference semifinals. That collapse cost Coach Mike Brown his job. The dread didn’t end there for Jamison, who went through some personal issues in the offseason. ‘It’s been a tough year,’ he said. ‘I can’t wait for 2010 to be over. Just with a lot of personal stuff and basketball-wise, it’s been a tough year. Going through what I went through last year in Washington and even coming here and coming up short, it’s been tough.'”

The Cleveland Cavs’ forward’s knee is healthy, and Coach Byron Scott may put him into the starting five very soon. From the Beacon Journal: ”He’s playing so well, I don’t know if I can keep him in that role,” Scott said. […] J.J. Hickson isn’t really evolving yet into the type of rebounder Scott is seeking. It’s a great area of need on this team behind Anderson Varejao, and Jamison just happens to be the team’s next-best rebounder.”

Byron Scott has named J.J. Hickson as his starter (despite some frustration with his play), and it’s apparently not sitting too well with Antawn Jamison. The News-Herald reports: “Jamison doesn’t appear to be thrilled with coming off the bench. ‘It is what it is,’ he said. ‘I don’t know what the role is going to (entail). I don’t know how many minutes I’ll play. I’m up in the air, just like you.'”

Let’s just say that Hickson has made a less than favorable impression on his new coach. From the Akron Beacon Journal: “J.J. Hickson went to the bench with 5:38 remaining in the third quarter Tuesday. He didn’t need to get up the rest of the night. Coach Byron Scott’s frustration with Hickson boiled over in the Cavaliers’ final preseason game, an 83-77 victory over the Milwaukee Bucks that allowed the Cavs to finish the preseason 6-2. But Scott didn’t care much about the six victories as much as he did the mental lapses that caused Hickson to turn the ball over five times in 20 minutes. Hickson still doesn’t know the Princeton offense, Scott said, and he’s quickly running out of time. ‘He’s one we’re counting on to play a major role in what we’re doing. Right now, from an offensive standpoint, he’s not understanding what we’re trying to do,’ Scott said. ‘That’s disappointing, especially as much as we go through it every day.’ Scott has been passively trying to motivate Hickson throughout training camp. He said last week the starting job at forward was his to lose, and that if he demonstrated an ability to stay focused on defense, he would start. If he didn’t, Antawn Jamison would start.”

The Plain Dealer reports that Jamison may reprise his former role of sixth man in Cleveland this season; “Looking more likely that Antawn Jamison will come off bench for Cavs, as he did when he won 6th Man of the Year with Dallas in 2005.”

With the Cavs’ biggest star ever having bolted town, Jamison is left picking up the pieces in Cleveland. He doesn’t sound too sure about how to go about doing that. From the Charlotte Observer: “The Cleveland Cavaliers acquired Antawn Jamison in mid-February. They wanted a wingman to complement LeBron James. After 12 NBA seasons, almost all of them as the star on a bad or mediocre team, Jamison wanted a championship. But the Cavaliers crashed and burned in the Eastern Conference semifinals against Boston and crashed and burned again two weeks ago when LeBron giddily announced he was leaving Cleveland for the Miami Heat. ‘I was disappointed,’ Jamison says Thursday at his basketball camp at Carolina Courts in Indian Trail. ‘I only got to play with him two months.’ Are the Cavaliers your team now? ‘If I’m there, yeah,’ Jamison says. He laughs. ‘They might want to go young, or in a different direction,’ he says. Jamison has two years remaining on a $28 million contract.”

Prior to last night’s pivotal Game 6 in Boston, there was an overwhelming sense of inevitability for fans of the Cleveland Cavaliers. The shaken nerves were palpable, because what was at stake was so meaningful to the future of their team, to say nothing about the future of so many other NBA franchises.

Following the Celtics’ unceremonious elimination of the underachieving Cavs — Cleveland became just the third team in NBA history (including last year’s Cavs) to fail to reach the Finals after winning 60 games in the regular season — we are left with many more questions, and very few satisfying answers.

Oh, right. There’s the matter of the elephant in the room: LeBron James’ impending free agency. James, as is his custom (and given right), played it close to the vest during the postgame press conference — he gave no real hint as to what his future plans are.

It’s one of the key matchups in the Celtics/Cavs series, with KG hoping to do to Jamison what he did to Michael Beasley in the previous series. From the Boston Globe: “The Miami players believed Beasley could exploit Garnett with his athleticism and ability to take the slower Garnett off the dribble. But that advantage never materialized, and during stretches of Game 4, Garnett looked dominant and Rivers allowed him to log a season-high 37 minutes as he aided the Celtics’ rally. In Tuesday’s fourth quarter, Garnett canned two jumpers during a 6-0 run that increased the Celtics’ lead to an insurmountable 12. After the second shot, Garnett sprinted down the floor, pumping his arms slightly as if he had just crossed a major hurdle of his resurrection. He would much rather discuss team defense or laud his teammates for their efforts in the Miami series, but his offensive improvement will be an issue against Cleveland. Jamison is going to have to come out and guard Garnett as he stands 18 feet from the basket. And the Cavaliers may have to double when Garnett gathers a Rajon Rondo pass in the post and ponders his next move. That may not have occurred even three months ago. But that confidence is there and Garnett, silently, will look to exploit his matchup with Jamison, just as he did with Beasley. ‘I wasn’t even focusing on how I was scoring the ball, my focus was on Beasley and Haslem and now it’s on Jamison,’ he said. ‘It should be a good matchup. I have a lot of respect for what ‘Twan’ has done in this league.’’’

Please, please, please tell me you all saw LeBron’s alley-oop slam against the Knicks last night. It was another one of those, “oh my, oh, oh my, he’s flying,” moments and it was just really pretty. As pretty as something that damn ferocious can be. My favorite part was Bron’s reaction after he saw the replay. He couldn’t help but smile when he saw how close to the rim he was. Someone on Twitter told me he was obnoxious because of that reaction. To that I say, I’d rather be called obnoxious by someone who will never be able to dunk like that in their life than not be able to enjoy getting paid millions to play a game that I’ve loved my entire life.

In other words, lighten up. Don’t be a hater. Enjoy greatness when you get it. I know I am.

Anyway, the Cavs won in a laugher, dismantling the Knicks 124-93. Bron had 22 points, seven boards and seven assists, Mo Williams scored just seven points but had 10 assists and Antawn Jamison continues to get used to his new team, finishing with 17 points and 12 rebounds. Bill Walker led the Knicks with 21 points. Bet you didn’t think I was going to say that. Tracy McGrady played had six points and David Lee had a quiet 10/10.

With the Clippers up 10 against the Jazz with two minutes and change to go, Kelly Dwyer retweeted this: Memo Okur missed a three a moment ago and he is now 4 of 28 from three in 4th Quarter this season.

Yikes.

Despite a scare late, the Clippers were able to hold on for the 108-104 victory. Baron had 19 points and 12 assists as all five Clippers starters finished in double figures. Davis also was just one turnover shy of the bad kind of triple-double.

As someone who gets to go to Raptors practice on Wednesday and talk to the guys about this two-game road trip with back-to-back blowout losses, a four-game losing streak and what the hell happened to playing defense of any kind, last night’s 116-92 loss to the Rockets was painful. Really, really painful. With Andrea Bargnani coming in at a -29 and Patrick O’Bryant recording a +6, it was that kind of game. By the end, I didn’t want to watch, but knew I had to. The Rockets shot 51 percent and had 33 assists on 41 made field goals. Aaron Brooks and Kevin Martin had a field day, with Brooks scoring 28 points on 11-for-16 shooting, and Martin scoring his 28 on 9-for-18 from the floor. The Rockets his 13 3-pointers, shooting 52 percent beyond the arc.

It was ugly and ugly early as Toronto trailed by 20 at the half. Chris Bosh, I hope that ankle’s healed because your team needs you.

The Magic rolled to a 126-105 win over the Sixers, topping 33 points in all but the fourth quarter. They shot 58 percent for the game and hit 15 3-pointers out of their 23 attempts. Yes, 66 percent from deep. Hot like fire. Matt Barnes continues to show how huge he’s been as a pick up for Orlando, scoring 16 points and hitting three 3-pointers. Jameer Nelson had 22 points and 10 assists and Vince Carter added 19. Rookie Jrue Holiday had a career-high 23 points for the Sixers in the loss.

New out of Philly sounds like Allen Iverson may be stepping away from the game to be with his young daughter who is battling illness. Whether or not this is true –and I can’t yet put into words my thoughts/emotions on this if it is– my thoughts, prayers and well wishes go out to the Iverson family as they continue to deal with one of the hardest things any family has to deal with.

27 and 13 from Dirk, 22 from Caron and the Mavs got another victory, taking down the Bobcats 89-84 to get their eighth in a row. Hated hearing Stephen Jackson say that the Bobcats played scared. That’s not how it’s supposed to be. At all.

The Spurs won on the second night of a back-to-back, taking down the Hornets, 106-92. George Hill had 23 points, Tim Duncan scored 22 and Tony Parker added 18. The story here –for me, at least– is Hornets rookie Marcus Thornton pouring in 30 points on 12-for-19 shooting. The Western Conference rookie of the month, Darren Collison, added 10 points and 15 assists in the loss.

What in the heck are the Hornets going to do with their pg situation this summer? Surely they can’t keep Collison stifled on the bench behind Chris Paul. And, CP3, well, he’s as good as it gets. It’ll be interesting.

The Hawks took down a Chicago team that struggled as Derrick Rose tried to shake off a knee injury, falling 116-92. Josh Smith was sensational for Atlanta, finishing with 17 points, 18 rebounds, four assists, two steals and two blocks. Al Horford had 15 points and 10 rebounds and Marvin Williams added 18 points. I’m going to add my plea for the Hawks to go to Josh and Al on the offensive end more. Sometimes, as much as I enjoy Joe and Jamal, I’d prefer to see their other guys get some open shots, sometimes, the easy shot.

Okay, sorry for bringing up the Hornets rookie love again, but they’ve just bee so huge in the last little stretch. It’s awesome seeing guys who didn’t have a lot of hype around them when the seasons started break out and make everyone start paying attention. Kind of like… Zach Randolph. I definitely didn’t see that one coming.

In March 2000, Kevin Garnett said Antawn Jamison will, “be a good player in this league for many, many years.” Ten years later, KG was right. After posting a career average of 19.9 ppg and 8.1 rpg while playing for the Warriors, Mavs and Wizards, Jamison’s time to get his is now. At the trade deadline he was moved to a title-contender in Cleveland, where he’ll run with LeBron, Shaq and Mo Williams. If the Cavs weren’t favored to win a championship before, they certainly are now. Writer R.R. Padilla wrote about Jamison after his bench warming rookie season, where Antawn discussed his frustrations of not playing and being able to prove his worth. The UNC alum certainly has his chance now, as he’ll be competing for a ring from here on out.—Matt Lawyue

by R.R. Padilla

WHEN IT COMES TO TALK OF SOME OF THE NBA’S TOP RISING STARS, ANTAWN JAMISON’S NAME RARELY GETS MENTIONED.

Big mistake.

The ’98 National College Player of the Year at North Carolina, Jamison is far too talented to already be a forgotten man. To understand this, all you have to do is take a look at the numbers. In his first NBA season last year, Jamison received far less playing time than such rookie successes as Vince Carter, Paul Pierce and Jason Williams. While the three SLAM cover boys were averaging 35 minutes per game apiece for their respective teams, Jamison barely made it on the court for 20 minutes a game. But when given the chance to play, Jamison came through for the Golden State Warriors. The 6-9, 223-pound forward averaged 16.4 points and 9.1 rebounds and shot .538 from the floor when he logged 25 or more minutes in a contest. In his final five 25-plus minute outings of the season, he averaged 19.4 points. Average Air Canada, P Double and Slim Shady together last season and you get 15.8 points and 5.0 rebounds per.

And this season, despite a dreadful 4-16 start by the moribund Warriors, Jamison is getting a chance at both forward spots, starting and averaging 34 minutes, 17 points and eight boards per.

Numbers don’t lie, and Antawn’s digits alone should prove the he is no bust. But still, to say Jamison’s career hasn’t gotten off to a disappointing start would be a bigger fallacy than Isaiah Rider claiming he’s a team player.

In year one, the 23-year-old Jamison was ill prepared to watch from the bench while Chris Mills and Donyell Marshall ate up most of his minutes on the court. Warriors’ coach P.J. Carlesimo felt he had good reason for his rotation, as Jamison looked lost at times early in the season trying to make the transition from playing with his back to the basket in college to mostly facing the rack in the League.

For comparison’s sake, look at Elton Brand’s difficulties this season-he’s a fine player, but undersized big men need time to adjust. Regardless of Jamison’s “struggles,” Carlesimo simply felt more comfortable with the more experienced players on the floor.

“It wasn’t really that it was Jamison’s playing ability, it was that we have him, Marshall and Mills, and we were playing them mostly at small forward,” Carlesimo said early this season. “With Antawn coming in as a rookie, we decided to bring him off the bench. I thought, for the most part, he handled it very well. But it certainly didn’t help his pro-gress. Had we thrown him in the starting lineup and given him 30 to 35 minutes a game, he would have progressed at a quicker rate than he did. But we didn’t have that option, so we tried to make the best of the situation.”

Without the playing time to improve himself, Jamison became frustrated as the season progressed and he continued to warm the Warriors’ bench.

“I really didn’t get the opportunity to produce last season,” says Jamison. “It was tough watching all of the rookies. To me, it seemed like everybody was getting the opportunity to play and show people what they had. I didn’t get that opportunity very often.

“I remember the first game, we were playing Houston and I was pretty pumped to go against Scottie Pippen,” he says. “Then, I didn’t even get into the game until like three minutes into the third quarter. Off the top, you think you’re gonna play in the first half sometime, and to just sit on the bench waiting for your name to be called, I was like, out of it. Once I got in the game, I was already frustrated.

“From step one, I never got the opportunity to prove myself. That’s something that hurts. I wasn’t worried about what Vince was doing or them other guys. It was like, ‘Yo, I’m not getting the opportunity to play.’ That was the most difficult feeling. When you know you should be on the court playing or at least be given the opportunity and you don’t get it. That really hurt me a lot last year.”

There’s a scar that runs down the side of Jamison’s face, just under his right eye, resembling the path a teardrop might make as it runs down his cheek. That scar fit well with what Jamison went through early last season.

“There were times out on the court when I felt lost, where I was holding back crying,” Jamison says. “I wouldn’t want anybody to go through what I went through last year. That wasn’t me at all. That just wasn’t the way it was supposed to be.”

Jamison first showed his old self in the Warriors’ seventh game of his rookie season. Matching up against Kevin Garnett most of the night, Jamison recorded 21 points and 11 rebounds in 29 minutes while tipping in the game-winning shot at the buzzer to give Golden State a 101-99 win over the Timberwolves. But Jamison’s supposed breakout game was anything but. Carlesimo played Jamison over 25 minutes in a game just once in the club’s next 14 contests. Jamison could only crack double-figure scoring on three occasions during that time.

“You just got to be mentally prepared to handle anything,” Jamison says, recalling his rollercoaster pattern of playing time last season. “They could tell you one thing and it could end up being a whole different situation. They were saying one thing, and this and that, but then I’m not getting the chance to play and do things. During the time it was happening, I was just like, ‘What’s goin’ on?'”

Soon, Jamison’s lack of playing time created a situation where people did not understand why he wasn’t having the type of year a player with his potential should have. Inevitably, the word “bust” began popping up when Jamison’s name was mentioned. Jamison heard the criticism and was upset that he wasn’t given ample opportunity to prove the naysayers wrong.

“The media knew exactly was was going on,” he says. “Half of the situations, it was put in my hands, and the other half, it wasn’t put in my hands. I didn’t have any say-so, and I didn’t get a lot of the opportunities that many of the rookies got last year. I think a lot of the media realized that, but they were like, ‘Well, sooner or later, he has to do something to make P.J. play him more.’ It was just one of those situations, where no matter what happens, you’re gonna always come out on the bottom.

“A lot of people just see the box scores and don’t really see the situations that I was put in. There’s nothing you can say to people who talk down on you in the press or on the streets. It’s one of those things that happened and I put it behind me…After what happened last year, I think I can handle anything, basically.”

JAMISON HAS A BETTER HANDLE ON HIS PRODUCTION THISSEASON. Taking last season as a learning experience, Jamison spent the offseason completing his degree at UNC and playing lots of ball. The Charlotte native spent his time in Tar Heel country running with the likes of Carter, Rasheed Wallace and Jerry Stackhouse. He then turned heads at Pete Newell’s Big Man camp, where former NBA player and camp assistant Kiki Vandeweghe compared him to the legendary Bernard King.

Since the start of the season, Warriors’ 38-year-old veteran Terry Cummings has noticed major improvements in Jamison’s game. “For one, he ain’t runnin’ around like a chicken with his head cut off,” says the all-time forward. “It’s a big step from college to the NBA, and he had to adjust to the speed and fast pace of the game He learned a lot last year. Yeah, he didn’t do what Vince did, but this year he’s doing much better. I can see him becoming a franchise player.”

“I knew exactly what I needed to work on [after last season],” Jamison says. “I was in the gym shooting about three or four hundred jump shots a day, and it has been really coming on. I know I definitely didn’t do a good job with my outside shot last year, but just by me working on it, it’s going to open up my game a lot. I’m able to play on the perimeter a lot better than I did last year. Plus, once I get the ball in the post, I feel it’s going to be hard to guard me.”

Garnett realizes that. “He always works hard,” KG says. “The rest of his game will come. He’s like a thoroughbred when he runs. He’s going to be a good player in this league for many, many years.”

Now that Jamison is getting the minutes, the next questions center around whether his team has any hope this season, and whether or not he’ll get any recognition for his vastly improved play. “It’s kind of hard to be on a losing team, being on the West Coast…” said Jamison after dropping a 25-point, 17-rebound gem on the Knicks in December. “But I just want Golden State to be as successful as possible…hopefully then people will see what’s going on with me.”

Both Carlesimo and Golden State GM Garry St. Jean have expressed extreme confidence in their rising star. “He’s a young guy [we] think is really taking his game up,” St. Jean says.

And Jamison’s reaction to the positive vibes-not to mention the starting spot-he’s getting from his employers that were so painfully absent last year?

“I’m in a different situation now, where good things are going to happen. But I’m not holding my breath at all.”

The internet is a wonderful, magical thing, full of videos and words and images and all sorts of amazing things.

One of the newest Internet things is this site xtranormal.com, on which people can write/edit/direct their own weird cartoons. I saw this one about Spencer Hawes this morning, and then this one (Rated R) about the Spurs a little later.

So I decided to fire up the site up and give it a whirl. Here’s my try at it…

Despite All-Star numbers, Antawn is by no means guaranteed a starter’s role on his new team: “Don’t expect Antawn Jamison to step right into the Cavaliers starting lineup. Cavaliers coach Mike Brown isn’t even sure yet …. So who does Brown choose? Jamison, who is averaging 20.5 points and 8.8 rebounds this season and is a two-time all-star? or the up-and-coming Hickson? ‘I don’t know yet,’ Brown said. ‘A lot of times you kind of just go off gut feel. For a little bit I was like, ‘Let’s start (Jamison).’ After about five hours of feeling that way, I don’t know if I’m going to. Then I thought about it again.”’

If you haven’t heard, TMac is headed to New York, Ronnie Brewer is headed to Memphis and Nate to Boston/House to NYC is finally official.

Onto the games.

In the first match up of the evening, we had the Nuggets in Cleveland, looking to snap the Cavs franchise-high 13 game winning streak. We also had LeBron and Melo matched up and what a battle it was. While Antawn Jamison was unavailable for his new team, he had one hell of a show to watch on the Cavs bench. Denver had control of the game early, but of course, the Cavs came back, led by LeBron. Through the fourth, the game went back and forth, with the two making big shot after big shot, until the end of regulation. While the Cavs went to Anthony Parker for a corner three and he came up empty, Chauncey Billups also took a three and missed. When Anthony Parker’s heave at the buzzer was off of the mark, the game went into OT.

LeBron already had a triple-double.

In the extra session, it was a shootout between the two superstars and former Olympic teammates and with 1.9 seconds remaining a perfect –tightly guarded- jumper from Melo gave the Nuggets the victory. LeBron had a chance to win it, but slipped, still managing to get a decent looking shot off.

Melo finished with 40 points to go with six rebounds and seven assists. LeBron became the first player since Oscar Robertson in 1962 to finish a game with 43 points, 13 rebounds, 15 assists, two steals and four blocked shots.

Whew. How fun was that one? I know I didn’t begin to do it justice in that recap. I’m happy for Antawn and can’t imagine what he felt watching on the sidelines. From that mess of a disastrous season in Washington to this? He’s got to be jumping.

Felt for LeBron when he walked off, looking pained at coming up short. For everyone who’s angry he didn’t shake hands, it’s a regular season game. It happens. More often than we probably pay attention to.

I could handle a finals match up between those two. Yes, yess.

Moving along to L.A. Without Kobe Bryant, the Lakers gave the Celtics their best shot and almost got them, falling just short in a 87-86 decision to the men in green. The Celtics were without new acquisition, Nate Robinson, and in the end, the Lakers had the ball with 2.2 seconds remaining. An awful final possession that ended with Derek Fisher trying to draw a foul on a 3-pointer showed just how important Kobe Bryant is in the final seconds of a close game.

After a Celtics miss and Lakers rebound, Pau Gasol called a timeout as Lamar Odom was running upcourt and it hurt the Lakers. I would have preferred they just played the possession out to see if they could have got a bucket in transition, but hey, without Kobe on the floor he probably wasn’t sure what they’d do either.

Ray Allen was awesome for the Celtics, hitting 10 of his first 11 shots and finishing with a game-high 24 points. Rajon Rondo left his sharp-shooting in Dallas, struggling offensively shooting just 6-for-17 from the floor. He did finish with 14 points, 11 assists and five steals though. Kendrick Perkins finished with 13 points and 14 rebounds, offsetting a 6-for-16 night from Kevin Garnett.

For the Lakers, Pau had 22, but either didn’t get the ball down the stretch, or did silly things with it, like trying to feed Shannon Brown on the baseline, turning the ball over. Odom had 13 points and 14 rebounds off of the bench and I just need to take this sentence to rave about the dunks he had tonight. That second one was spectacular and I can only hope for more of that Lamar.

I hope you all saw Ray Allen’s dunk over Shannon. It made me happy.

Thoughts on the deals? I just want LeBron to resign in Cleveland and then we’ll go from there. While it’s got to be a big decision for Wade and Bosh, I can’t even begin to imagine leaving your home for another team. LeBron IS Cleveland. It’ll be nuts if he goes. I’ve been thinking about it a lot lately. The summer of 2010 is going to be wild. Or, everyone will resign and it’ll be boring.

The Cleveland/Orlando rivalry gets better and better with each passing day: “The Magic player that will most feel the impact of Antawn Jamison’s addition to the Cleveland Cavaliers will be power forward Rashard Lewis. Jamison has caused Lewis problems on occasion. So what does Lewis think about the trade? ‘It doesn’t scare me,’ Lewis said. ‘I’ve been on all star teams as well as him. I think it’s going to come down to who executes better on the defensive end. Most definitely a great player. … At the same time one guy doesn’t win ballgames. They do have another guy called LeBron James which is going to be our focus.’ Magic Coach Stan Van Gundy said the acquisition made the Cavaliers ‘pretty formidable. They’re already the best three point shooting team in the league,’ Van Gundy said. ‘They get another guy who can stretch the floor with Shaq inside, LeBron on the perimeter.”’

OK, waaaaay too much went on last night. I mean, my goodness. Wednesday nights are crazy enough on their own, but this trade deadline business is mad! Okay, so games, I don’t really know what to tell you, except, the Grizz stole one against the Raptors…. Or, the Raps gave the game away after being down 16 to start then leading by five with 37 seconds remaining. A Mayo three and a Z-Bo layup and there was overtime. In the extra session, the Raptors stupidly continued to switch so Jose Calderon was on Rudy Gay, and, well, Rudy took advantage, scoring eight straight for the Grizz to give them the win.

It was another rough night for Hedo, who was booed quite loudly when he checked into the game.

Rudy Gay is really fun to watch. OJ Mayo is really nice to talk to. He gives good, long answers. Wished I had the opp to sit down with him for a longer interview, like our man Tzvi did awhile back.

Grant Hill and Dirk Nowitzki were jawing at each other in Dallas where the new-look Mavs got the 107-97 victory. Weird, right?

CJ Watson went OFF against the Kings as the Warriors raced to a 130-98 blowout win. Watson had a career-high 40 points on a ridiculous 16-for-23 from the floor. He was balling as he started for Monta Ellis who is expected to miss another week of action. Steph Curry had a career-high 15 assists and the Warriors rolled all over Sacramento, taking over in the second quarter when they outscored the Kings 42-16.

33 points, 17 rebounds, three assists and seven blocked shots for Dwight Howard in a 116-91 victory over the Pistons. Love seeing big numbers from Dwight like that. I miss the Dwight from last season. Anyone else with me here?

The Heat managed to scrape by with the 87-84 victory against the Nets in New Jersey and did so without Dwyane Wade for most of the game after their superstar left the game with a strained left calf. Michael Beasley led the way for Miami with 23 points and 10 rebounds in the win.

Meanwhile, as I was filing a story and going home, news was breaking. The Kings are letting go of Kevin Martin, Hilton Armstrong, Kenny Thomas and Sergio Rodridguez for Tracy McGrady, Joey Dorsey and Carl Landry. Who knows if they’ll keep TMac, but they’ll most certainly keep Landry and Casspi is going to love playing with a hard-nosed guy like Carl. I really like that piece for them. Didn’t expect them to be in such a rush to let go of Martin, though.

Now, the Cavs. This went down in the first half of my game. They accquired Antawn Jamison and Sebastian Telfair while shipping Zydrunas Ilgauskas, a first round dradt pick and the rights to Emir Preldzic to Washington. Drew Gooden was sent to the L.A. Clippers and Al Thornton was sent to the Wizards. You get that?

All you need to know is that the Cavs were able to keep J.J. Hickson, attained Jamison and are going to be really, really good. They’ll probably get Z back in the end, too. Nuts. I’m just happy for Antawn. He deserved a better situation than the one he had in Washington and the fans in Cleveland are sure going to love him. Now, to see how it all falls into place.

In other smaller trade news: The Knicks traded Darco Milicic to Minnesota in exchange for Brian Cardinal.

The Bulls will send John Salmons to Milwaukee for two expiring contracts in return. According to ESPN, these contracts may be Kurt Thomas and Francisco Elson or Hakim Warrick and Joe Alexander.

A deal between the Knicks and Celtics is expected to go down today, sending Nate Robinson to the Celtics for Eddie House and another contract, perhaps J.R. Giddens.

Now, I’ve gotta get myself to the ACC to see if they make any moves today. I’m hoping not! Also hoping I can get back into the normal swing of things tonight. At least the trades will be over by then, right?

Goodbye, Big Z; hello, Antawn! A five-player trade between Washington, Cleveland and the LA Clippers has been finalized.

When everyone had assumed that Amar’e Stoudemire was headed to Ohio, Danny Ferry nabbed Antawn Jamison instead from the rapidly decomposing Washington Wizards. And in the process, perhaps turned Cleveland into the favorite to win the title this season.

The trade has been confirmed on Twitter (where else?) by many, many, many, many, many media members: Zydrunas Ilgauskas, Al Thorton, plus a first round draft pick to Washington; Sebastian Telfair and Antawn to Cleveland; Drew Gooden to the Clippers (who will reportedly waive him.)

The total destruction of the team that used to be known as the Washington Wizards is nearly complete. The Pollins have traded away almost all of the core pieces of the team that went to the Playoffs four times in the last six years. Only Gilbert Arenas remains in DC, and no one expects him to be there much longer.

Cleveland not only landed Jamison — one of the best forwards in the L (averaging 20.5 ppg, 8.8 rpg) — but also keeps the ever improving JJ Hickson. Hats off to you, Danny Ferry.

OK, LeBron. You now have all the horses you need to win a championship. No more excuses.

A potential blockbuster is reportedly being discussed between Washington and Boston: “In a dramatic move that would resuscitate their fading championship hopes, the Boston Celtics are discussing a deal with the Washington Wizards for forwards Antawn Jamison and Caron Butler, league sources told Yahoo! Sports on Friday. The proposed deal would send the expiring contracts of Ray Allen, Brian Scalabrine and J.R. Giddens to the Wizards, a move that would signal the start of Washington’s rebuilding process. The trade isn’t imminent, but talks have progressed and Celtics GM Danny Ainge has positioned his organization to make one of the boldest trade deadline moves in years.”

It was kind of a quiet Tuesday with only five games on the schedule. While I watched the Milwaukee/Dallas game (and hope you did, too), my favorite match up of the night wasn’t even an NBA game. The Kentucky/South Carolina game was awesome. With Kentucky holding the number one ranking, SC gave them all that they could handle and the second half went back and forth until the end where SC pulled away.

It was their first win against a number one ranked team and it was a great one. Felt for Kentucky who finally make it to number one and then lost it, but what a game. Devan Downey was awesome. Awesome, awesome. 30 points and some amazing plays down the stretch. How tall is this guy? He’s not very, but he’s proving himself to be a baller. Love when guys step up when they know they’ve got all eyes on them. Big game on ESPN. That’s fun.

In Dallas, the Mavs found themselves in a battle against the Bucks and they pulled out the one-point win after Carlos Delfino missed a buzzer beater. The win was the Mavericks 10th straight in the last 10 games that they have been in that were decided by one-point. Hope that made sense to you. Took me a minute to understand it.

Anyway, the offense in that game was awesome. Bogut and Jennings look like they’ve been playing together for years. Bogut was 13-for-14 from the floor for 32 points. That’s wild. Dirk was 11-for-25 from the floor for his 28 points. It was an efficient game offensively. It was fun. Was pulling for the Bucks, though. Or, at least timeout.

I kind of forgot that the wives of the Lakers would be in attendance when LA met with President Obama yesterday. Seeing him shake Khloe Kardashian’s hand just doesn’t seem right to me. Oh, America. Where reality TV stars and head coaches of NCAA programs get love from the president. But, for real, props to Coach Cal for “Hoops for Haiti”. That was awesome.

The Lakers took down the Wizards, 115-103, but the game felt more out of hand than that. The crowd chanted MVP for Kobe, he finished with 26 points and eight assists (also six turnovers). Pau Gasol scored 26 points on 10-f0r-15 fgs and he added 10 rebounds and four assists as well. Antawn Jamison continued to do all he could for the Wizards, scoring 27 points to go with nine rebounds. He’s not going to be able to be an All-Star because of that record, is he?

Speaking of All-Star, I’m hoping DeMar DeRozan’s ankle is good to go for the dunk-in because he’ll be one disappointed guy if it isn’t. He left prac early yesterday after rolling his right ankle on Hedo Turkoglu’s foot. He sprained his left ankle against the Lakers. Here’s hoping neither sprain is bad and he’s feeling okay.

In Phoenix, the Bobcats defeated the Suns, 114-109. The game went into overtime thanks to a 3-pointer from Stephen Jackson and unlike their OT loss to the Magic last week the Bobcats were able to outlast Phoenix in the extra session. Speaking of the Suns, Vince Thomas had Steve Nash as his fourth point guard in the West and, well, I just can’t roll with that. Your thoughts?

Oh yes, Jack had 30/9/5 in the Bobcats victory.

Dwyane Wade and the Heat are here today and I’m amped up for the game. The ACC will go nuts if the Raps can pull off another victory.

Things are clearly not working for the Wizards, which has some wondering if and when management will make a move: “The Wizards have their three All-Stars – Gilbert Arenas, Antawn Jamison and Caron Butler – back together. They have the big-name coach in Flip Saunders. They have plenty of depth thanks to holdover prospects, the offseason trade that brought in guards Randy Foye and Mike Miller, the signing of veteran center Fabricio Oberto and the in-season pickup of backup point guard Earl Boykins. But something’s not working, and league insiders have begun to surmise that Wizards president Ernie Grunfeld could blow up the roster – or at least move a key piece or two. Butler, the two-time All-Star forward whom the Wizards in the offseason refused to trade to Phoenix with the No. 5 draft pick for Amare Stoudemire, has struggled to find his place in Saunders’ system and has been mentioned in several rumors in the past few weeks. A league source said several teams have interest in Jamison, a two-time All-Star forward who is averaging 22.1 points and 8.6 rebounds.”

Maybe I wanted to believe in the nine new faces on the Raptors roster this season, or maybe when a team scores as easily as this one does, you figure that they’ll figure it out on defense at least enough to win games. Then there are the nights where the defense is alright, three players top 20 points and still the team loses.

Last night was one of those nights. Playing the Wizards at home before heading out on a three-game road trip, the Raptors lost 106-102 and with the loss they fell to 7-12. The vibe was not a pleasant one in the Raptors locker room after the game. In the Wizards room, they just seemed happy to get a win on the road.

And, me?

I was just happy to see Gilbert Arenas doing his thing on the basketball court. Particularly in the fourth when he decided to go into aggressive mode and score 12 points. I’ve seen Antawn Jamison before, but every time I get to watch him up close, I’m floored by how good he is. It’s great to see the Wizard guys healthy. Beautiful, was the baseline dunk that Caron Butler had in the final minutes. Crazy to see DeShawn Stevenson get another DNP-CD. Hurts my heart to see Javaris Crittenton still on the inactive list. Makes my happy to see Earl Boykins play the entire fourth and have a huge impact on the game.

The Lakers took down the Hornets in LA last night for their seventh win in a row. Kobe only had 18, but played just 32 minutes as the Lakers had five players in double-figures led by Andrew Bynum’s 21 and nine boards.

From the Lakers and Raptors games: Food promos annoy me to begin with, but if your team loses, don’t cheer for a damn piece of pizza. Last night the sole shot Hedo Turkoglu hit was a three at the buzzer to win pizza for the crowd. They cheered. Yuck. And if your team is winning, don’t get too upset over the other team trying to play hard until the final buzzer sounds, even if it means killing your food promo. Think about it: You just kicked their ass, they want to control something.

Okay, rant over.

After I was moaning over drafting Ray Allen in my fantasy draft, he showed up with a big game against the Bobcats, scoring 27 points in Boston’s 108-90 victory. The Bobcats struggled against the Celtics, trailing by as many as 26 points in the game as they allowed Boston to shoot 55 percent from the floor. Those 27 points from Allen came on 6-for-9 shooting, including five three-pointers. That’s efficiency.

Also, Nazr Mohammed getting in KG’s face was crazy. I’m not one for fighting, but I respected that.

Quote of the night: “I’m happy for our fans. They got to go home and watch (North) Carolina and Michigan State. If any of them were smart, they would have left early and watched that game.” – Larry Brown

Russ Bengtson broke down the Knicks/Suns game (which the Knicks won 126-99), perfectly. “The game was boring… The Suns didn’t even show up.”

Not sure how the Suns managed to score just 99 points, but the defense thing wasn’t really a surprise. Giving up 39 points to the Knicks in the first quarter is still a jaw-dropper though. Danilo Gallinari had 27 points, 10 rebounds and two blocked shots for the Knicks. Larry Hughes had 11 points and 12 (!) assists.

One night after Monta went nova and scored 45, he came back down to earth and had 15 points in the Warriors 135-107 loss to the Nuggets. Blame it on the Denver altitude, that’s what I’m going to do. While the Warriors went with an eight-man rotation, the Nuggets had all 12 men in on the action in their victory as every Nuggets player scored at least four points, with Melo leading the way, netting 25.

Great line from Dwyane Wade in the Heat’s 107-100 win against the Trail Blazers. Wade put up 22 points, 12 assists, five rebounds and a steal in his 37 minutes of play. Michael Beasley added 27 points on 8-for-15 fgs while shooting 11-for-12 from the free throw line and Quentin Richardson added 20 points and nine rebounds as he continues to get younger by the day.

Now, about this Allen Iverson thing… Can we just get the ink on this contract so it can dry and be official? I can’t take this anymore. Here’s hoping Philly and A.I. sort things out and the reunion goes better than everyone is expecting.

Question for you: Out of the teams that are currently having success, which one(s) can you just not trust to keep it up?

Now, there’s a headline that I never imagined needing to write. But it’s apparently true, according to Gil’s coach, teammates, and even himself: “The decline in production has been especially noticeable the past two games, as Arenas has failed to reach double digits and scored a total of 15 points on 7 for 18 (38 percent) shooting. Arenas opened up last Saturday about his frustrations as the season has dragged on, admitting that regaining his pre-injury form has taken longer than he thought it would. On Monday, Coach Flip Saunders said that Arenas’s passive play, as a scorer and facilitator has been noticeable. ‘He’s not confident right now. Everyone goes through it. Baseball players, hitters go through it,’ he said. ‘Right now, it’s probably because a lot of factors are involved. But it’s not going to stop him from shooting — it shouldn’t. He has to understand, it’s going to come at some point.”‘

The Wiz went through the media (again) to try and paint a rosy picture of their locker room: “Two days after Arenas ripped his teammates for having ‘hidden agendas,’ the point guard singled Butler out as the one player on the team who is struggling to get on the same page as his teammates. ‘For the most part, we all get along,’ Arenas said while voluntarily speaking to reporters after practice for the first time this year. “There are, what, 15 players on the team? Fourteen do. … At the end of the day, if 15 players don’t want to go and it’s only 14, you’ve seen ‘Remember the Titans.’ It’s the same thing. We’ve just got to play.’ Arenas’ issues with Butler seemed to stem from what he perceived as Butler’s unwillingness or inability to fit into the offensive system. Arenas on a few occasions has criticized Butler because he believed when he passed to Butler, the two-time All-Star forward would waste key scoring opportunities by hesitating or driving rather than catching and shooting. Arenas said Butler was the only player with such struggles.”

As always, the Wizards’ season will start with injuries throwing a monkey wrench into the whole thing: “The Washington Wizards are forced to start yet another season with a sidelined all-star after an MRI on Thursday revealed that forward Antawn Jamison’s right shoulder injury will force him to miss the next three to five weeks. This is the second consecutive season that the Wizards have started a regular season with at least one major piece missing. Both Gilbert Arenas and Brendan Haywood were out with injuries at the start of last season, and the Wizards went on to match their worst 82-game season in franchise history. The Wizards, though, are optimistic that because Jamison’s injury won’t require surgery and since his shoulder has made considerable progress in the past week, it would only keep him out the first 10 or so games.”

Antawn Jamison will sit out the rest of preseason with a right shoulder injury. This isn’t comforting news for a Wizards team constantly hit with the injury bug over the past couple of seasons. The Wiz have three remaining preseason games. They open their season Oct. 27 against the Mavericks.

The Washington Wizards were decimated by injuries last year, won less than 20 regular season games, and failed to qualify for the Playoffs. If they can stay healthy next season, and maybe even win a series in the postseason, it would have to be considered a major success.

That wouldn’t be good enough for Antawn Jamison. The Wizards’ leader has much loftier goals.

“I’ve been around here for six years and championship talk wasn’t a norm around our locker room. That’s all we’re talking about now,” Jamsion said, with less than two weeks remaining before training camp. “If we stay healthy, I think we can compete with the upper echelon of the NBA.”

“I don’t care,” Jamison said. “What you mean raising the bar too high? We won 19 games last year and I’ll be honest with you, we didn’t have a lot of our horses. But I don’t have anything else to play for. I’m not going to sit here and sugar coat things because it’s not the right thing to say. I believe it.”

Everyone around the Wiz insists that Gilbert Arenas is all the way back, and should that be the case, it’d be good enough for this team to return to the postseason. But a championship?

Sorry, Antawn. Your team simply doesn’t have the horses to go all the way. Good attitude, though.

Playing the role of GM, Jamison would have the Wiz pick DeMar in the NBA Draft: “In a relatively surprising move, Antawn Jamison did not take a member of North Carolina’s championship team (I’m half-kidding). Jamison went with USC freshman swingman DeMar DeRozan. But when you read his explanation, you will see the North Carolina connection (there had to be one, right?). Jamison says: ‘He reminds me of Vince Carter as a Tar Heel — the build, the body and athleticism. He could’ve been a top pick if we didn’t have the age limit. But he’ll benefit from the veterans, and in two or three years, he can be a household name.’ Interesting, eh? One, that Jamison feels that he would benefit from being around the vets. And two, that he is willing for DeRozan to be a household name ‘in two or three years.’ Jamison just turned 33 this month and his deal ends in three years.”

There’s lots of optimism for Team USA out there, which has been installed as a heavy favorite to win. But not everyone thinks it’s a foregone conclusion. The Insider has 10 reasons why the U.S. is destined for LeBronze. This is my favorite reason:

9. The smell factor. This is a little disgusting, but it’s true: Some of these teams stink, literally. Players on international teams travel to and from the arenas in their uniforms, and many players forsake showers as a result. I got a really close look at Argentina during the Worlds in Indianapolis, and I do not believe Fabricio Oberto, Luis Scola or Andres Nocioni bathed during the entire tournament. BO may be repulsive, but it also keeps defenders a few extra inches away.

Hmmmm… Maybe this is sarcasm? I hope so. Hatin’ ass hater.

Now that the actual tournament is starting, let’s take a quick look at the history of the 12 remaining US players left and their experience in big-time basketball tournaments, meaning the NCAAs and NBA playoffs. I know a lot of these guys come from powerhouse high schools and travelling teams, but the level of competition for them wasn’t really there until the NCAA level (if that.) The NBA playoffs and NCAA tourney are the closest we can get to these guys being forced to play under the most stressfull high stakes conditions. Bruce Bowen and his two NBA championships are gone, so let’s take a look at what’s left. I wrote this not to be judgmental, but strictly to inform. These are facts:

Carmelo Anthony – Won a championship in college as a freshman, picking up M.O.P. honors. Has yet to get past the first round in the NBA playoffs.

Shane Battier – Won the National Championship in college as one of the best players in the country, made it to the Final game and lost to UConn on the Brand-Langdon team before that. Since college, his teams are 0-12 in playoff games.

Chris Bosh – No NBA playoff experience, and Georgia Tech didn’t even make it to the big dance in his one year there.

Elton Brand – Finally made the NBA playoffs last year and took his team to the second round. In college, led maybe Duke’s most talented team to the final game, but was upset by UCONN. Battier was there.

Kirk Hinrich – Two first round exits in the NBA playoffs. Got to the final game in the NCAA tourney, losing to Carmelo’s team, and got to the Final Four the year before that, losing to eventual champion Maryland.

Dwight Howard – This would be his first big-time tourney where he can’t just overpower everyone. Or can he?

LeBron James – Won an NBA playoff series and carried a flawed NBA team to a game 7 vs. defending conference champs. The more people hate on him, the better he plays.

Antawn Jamison – Lost in the Final Four to Utah, whose two best players were Andre Miller and Michael Doleac. Got to the second round in the NBA playoffs once and made the playoffs with Dallas, where he allegedly played for a year though nobody remembers.

Joe Johnson – Played on a Suns team that managed to survive his face getting smashed in half on their way to conference Finals. Also played on the Marbury-led Suns team that lost to the Spurs in a competitive six game series. In college, Arkansas lost its first round game both years – to Miami and Georgetown.

Brad Miller – Has only gotten past first round of NBA playoffs once in five tries, six if you count his early days with Charlotte. In college, he never got past the sweet 16.

Chris Paul – Never got past the Sweet 16 either and was Pittsnoggled in a double OT thriller. No NBA playoffs yet, but he’s young.

Dwyane Wade – The reigning NBA champion. He goes to the second round at the bare minimum every year, and he had a triple double to get to the Final Four.

So there you have it, That’s the big game resume of Team USA. I know I shouldn’t comapre them to the Dream Team, buuuuut… Jordan had NBA and college championships at the time, Pippen had an NBA championship, Magic had both with multiple NBA ones, Bird was a multiple NBA champ and had a run to the final game in college, Drexler had been to the NBA Finals and the NCAA Final twice, Ewing had an NCAA championship and should have had three, and Laettner was an NCAA champion. David Robinson, Barkley, Stockton, Malone, and Mullin hadn’t won much at the time, but they were all in their youthful prime. Chris Mullin led the league in minutes the NBA season before the Olympics!

I don’t know why I felt the need to bring out that comparison. I like comparing things and people. Hope this whole thing has been educational for you. We’ll see what happens when the new guys start playing for real tonight/tomorrow.

The photo above is meant to represent big game huntin’. Nothing is more American than killing a big animal with a high-powered sniper rifle.